For a game to be successful, it must generate interest in its target group. To be successful for a long time, this interest must also be kept up for a long time. This is usually done by creating new content, for example, new adventures to play or additions to the game. At the same time, authors and developers cannot move too far away from their original setting, or they risk losing their original target group without attracting new customers and losing revenue. In short, you must develop your franchise to stay in business but not change it too much.
In this paper, the authors will examine the tension between the pressure to develop your setting narratively and the need to keep core selling points to entertain an established fan base. We will compare the different strategies that different franchises have found to deal with this dichotomy and the problems that come with them. In this, we will show the differences and parallels between the franchises, emphasizing all things Warhammer.
The Franchises in question:
- Das Schwarze Auge (The Dark Eye) – Involvement of players in the development, supplements, adventures and edition changes
- Hexxen 1733 – planned stagnation
- Warcraft/WoW – Power creep, add-ons, change in setting, reset of setting
- Warhammer 40k/Fantasy/AOS/World – first planned stagnation with tries of player involvement, change to in-game development via books, etc. For WHF, there is also a change in setting and resetting the setting.
Author bios
Moritz Schmid studied biology and science communication. He is doing his doctorate at the Deutsches Museum and the Oskar-von-Miller Chair of Scientific Communication at the Technical University of Munich. In his free time, he writes and has (co)-authored several Pen&Paper-RPG-publications for various systems.
Dennis Weigt studied English and German at the Ruhr Universität Bochum. He has actively worked for several game companies since 2006, most notably Ulisses Spiele, as a translator and (rules)author. He has enjoyed fantastic stories, tabletop role-playing games, and miniature tabletop games since his early teenage years.
